What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It is all about making your website and content rank higher on search engines like Google. Good SEO helps your site show up better in search results, making it easier for people to find you. Since most people use search engines to find online content, using SEO practices is important. It helps draw more visitors to your site and increases your traffic.

Benefits of SEO best practices

More traffic for your website

One of the biggest benefits of SEO is that it attracts high-quality traffic to your website. Unlike traditional marketing, which can be hit-or-miss, using SEO best practices ensures that your website shows up in search results when people are actively looking for what you offer. This means you reach them at a key moment when they are focused and looking for solutions, rather than when they are distracted by other activities, which generates more leads.

Boost brand awareness

SEO helps people notice and remember your brand by making sure your business appears often in search results. When people see your company frequently, it increases the chances that people will recognise and recall your brand. This repeated exposure builds trust and makes your brand more familiar to them.

Boost your credibility

Another benefit of SEO is that it helps make your site look more credible. When your site appears at the top of Google’s search results, people are more likely to trust it. Being on the first page makes your site seem more reliable compared to others that are lower down. It also increases the chances that people will click on your link rather than your competitor’s.

Make your website easier to index

Faster indexing is also a benefit of using SEO best practices. When you make your website easier to index, Google can find and list your new or updated pages more quickly. This means your content appears in search results sooner. With quicker indexing, you get better visibility on Google, leading to more visitors and higher click-through rates.

Boost conversion rate

SEO helps bring people to your website for free. Once visitors arrive at your site, the goal is to turn them into customers or at least get their contact information. The percentage of visitors who do what you want, like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter, is called the conversion rate. Your goal is to make this rate as high as possible. Since SEO increases the number of visitors to your website, it will also boost the conversion rate.

Decrease advertising cost

SEO best practices help you save money on ads and marketing in the long run. When your business appears on the first page of search results, you can spend less on ads and use that money for other things, like improving your content. Many businesses discover that SEO is cheaper and more effective than traditional ads. Often, within the first year, they find that SEO not only costs less but also brings better long-term results.

SEO best practices

This section will give you practical tips to help your website rank better on Google and other search engines.

Do keyword research

SEO isn’t just about getting any visitors to your site. It is about bringing in people who need what you offer and could become customers. To do that you have to rank for the keywords they are searching for, otherwise, they won’t find you, even if you are at the top of the search results. That is why good SEO starts with figuring out what words your potential customers are using in their searches.

Focus on UX

In June 2021, Google introduced its Core Web Vitals update, focusing on user experience (UX) rather than just content. This update evaluates three main factors: how quickly your site loads, how stable it is, and how responsive it is to user interactions. Google’s goal is to provide a better experience across devices, especially mobile, following its move to mobile-first indexing in March 2021. To stay ahead make sure to optimise your site’s loading speed, stability and responsiveness to meet these standards. Additionally, consider updating your website design to enhance these elements and improve overall user experience.

Use internal links

Internal linking or connecting one page on your site to other pages is a powerful yet often overlooked SEO tactic. Good internal links help search engines understand your site and make it easier for visitors to find their way around. Using internal links helps Google understand the context of your content through anchor text (the clickable words in a link) and highlights the value of your pages.

Remove or fix weak content

Every piece of content on your site should have a clear goal, like attracting visitors, turning leads into customers, or improving your site’s reputation. Regularly check how your content is performing to make sure it is effective. If something isn’t working, consider updating or removing it as it could hurt your site’s performance. Search engines favour the latest and most relevant information, so keeping your content updated can help you rank higher in search results.

Relevant meta titles and descriptions

Meta titles and descriptions are short summaries of your page that show up on search engine results. They help people decide if they want to click on your page and help search engines understand what it is about. To make them work well, use your main keywords at the start, add details like numbers or dates to make them pop, include a call to action (like learn more or buy now) and keep titles under 60 characters and descriptions under 160 characters. Make sure each page has a unique title and description.

Link building

Building high-quality backlinks is one of the most challenging aspects of SEO. Google doesn’t say backlinks directly impact rankings, but sites with few links usually don’t rank high. To figure out how many links you need, check how many links top-ranking pages have for your keywords. Start by analysing your competitor’s backlinks and trying to get similar ones with tools like Ahrefs. Focus on creating great content that naturally earns links from respected sources, like through guest posts, shareable infographics or participating in online communities.

Fix broken links

Broken links can hurt your SEO rankings. Google likes sites that are up-to-date and well-maintained, so too many broken links can make your site look outdated. They also cause crawl errors because Google’s bots cannot fully index pages with broken links. To follow SEO best practices, regularly check for and fix broken links to prevent any negative impact on your rankings.

Optimise images with alt-text

Images make your website more attractive and can help with SEO. To use them effectively, choose high-quality, relevant images instead of generic ones. Make sure they load quickly by keeping file sizes small. Also use alt-text (alternative) to explain what each image is about, so both people and search engines can understand them.

Mobile-first indexing

Since most website traffic comes from mobile devices, you should make sure your site works well on phones and tablets. Use a responsive web design that adjusts to different screen sizes and make sure your pages load quickly by compressing images and minimising heavy scripts. Google primarily uses the mobile version of your website for indexing and ranking.

Optimise content for voice search

Voice search is growing fast and might soon replace traditional search. In 2023 60% of UK households with 16-24-year-olds had a smart speaker. Optimising schema markup (the language in which search engines communicate) for voice search helps search engines find your website faster and reach a bigger audience using voice search.

SEO best practices are always evolving because search engines and user habits change over time. To keep your site ranking high, it’s important to stay updated with the latest trends and techniques. Which aspect of SEO do you find the most challenging: keyword research, link building or something else? Let us know in the comment below.

About Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all about teaching computers to think and learn just like humans do. It can be split into two main types: Narrow AI and General AI. Narrow AI is developed for specific tasks like recognising faces or recommending movies on Netflix, while General AI is more like human intelligence.

AI has two main parts: Deep Learning and Machine Learning. Machine Learning teaches computers to get better at tasks over time by learning from data. Deep Learning is a bit like how humans think and understand things, using lots of different parts to process information. Deep Learning has helped computers solve tough problems faster, like recognising images and understanding speech.

Role of AI in web development

Let’s take a look at how AI contributes to web development, shaping better user experiences and improving efficiency.

1. Automation

In web development some tasks tend to repeat, such as optimising code, compressing images and updating content across multiple pages. AI tools can help by analysing code patterns, editing images and making content changes based on user interactions. If thanks to AI we automate certain tasks that developers do, it will make their work easier and give them more time to work on other things.

2. Personalisation

AI algorithms can look at user data in real time to provide personalised content, suggest products and improve website layouts based on browsing history, preferences and demographics. AI algorithms analyse user behaviours and preferences to deliver hyper-personalised content. This makes the experience better for users, keeps them engaged and helps businesses sell more. Thanks to AI websites can offer users what they want, when they want it, building stronger connections between businesses and their customers.

3. Optimisation

In web development optimisation is key and AI helps a lot with that. By looking at data and how users interact, AI can find ways to make websites work better. This results in faster loading times, smoother user experiences and encourages more purchases. Thanks to the help of AI websites can be tweaked to be more user-friendly and effective.

4. Chatbots

Chatbots are like virtual assistants on websites, helping visitors with questions and comments without needing human involvement. They are already proving their worth by improving communication and how well websites work. Plus they can boost sales by making the customer experience smoother. You have probably noticed more and more websites using AI chatbots lately. Using a chatbot improves user’s experience since they can easily receive support when needed.

5. Security

Artificial intelligence can thoroughly analyse website data to quickly and accurately spot unusual patterns and threats that could signal a security breach or coding flaws hackers could exploit. AI is effective at finding and fixing these vulnerabilities. It looks at lots of web traffic, logs and alerts to find patterns or anything unusual that might be a problem. Plus, it learns from past data to stay updated on new threats.

6. Content generation

AI-powered tools make it easier to create great content that’s optimised for your website, saving you time and effort. Ai can help you with editing text, formulating your sentences, checking your text for mistakes and improving its overall quality. It can help you create articles, presentations, product descriptions or even personalised emails. Some AI tools that you can try for creating content are ChatGPT, Jasper and Copy.ai.

7. Use of AI in web design

AI tools make web design easier by suggesting layouts, colours and where to put content. They do this by studying the best websites and figuring out what works well. But AI-driven web design automation goes beyond just suggesting layouts and colours.. It continuously learns from user feedback and real time data to adapt and optimise website elements, ensuring they remain engaging and up to date for users.

8. Image generation

Each of these AI image generators works by taking a text prompt and then trying to transform it into a corresponding image. For example, there’s DALL-E, an easy-to-use AI image generator, and Adobe Firefly. You can find information about the Adobe Firefly feature in one of our previous articles – AI image transformation with Photoshop Generative. It explains how Photoshop’s generative fill feature simplifies the process for users to create beautiful visuals.

9. Use AI for web development testing

Testing tools powered by AI are a vital component of AI web design services. AI tools can find and fix mistakes in the code quickly, saving time on testing. By mimicking how users interact and looking at the code, automated testing makes websites better, faster and higher quality.

10. Optimised voice search

More and more consumers have changed their search behaviour by using voice commands in search queries. AI has changed how voice search works, making devices understand and respond to natural language questions. We no longer need to use just keywords for voice searches. Thanks to AI and the algorithms it uses, it can understand whole sentences and give us the correct answer.

11. Accessibility

Almost 5.5 billion people use the internet daily, it is important to address to the needs of the 16% of the global population with disabilities.For example, AI can explain pictures and drawings to people who can’t see well. Special computer programs can figure out what is in a picture and change it into words or sounds. This helps users understand what’s in pictures on the internet.

Benefits of AI in web development

In web development artificial intelligence brings many benefits for web developers, website owners and users alike. For business owners, AI tools can improve website performance, boost search engine rankings and enhance user experience, leading to more engagement, repeat customers and increased conversions. Users enjoy a personalised and seamless online experience with AI-powered features like chatbots for instant support and recommendation systems suggesting products tailored to their preferences.

Challenges of AI in web development

There are many benefits, but using AI and machine learning in web and app development also presents some challenges. Machine learning algorithms need extensive data to learn accurately, raising concerns about data privacy and regulations. Integrating AI into web applications can also make them more complex to manage and maintain, requiring web developers to have expertise in AI and machine learning. Additionally, AI isn’t perfect, it can make mistakes and its decision-making process can be hard to understand, making troubleshooting difficult.

Future of AI in web development

In conversations about Artificial Intelligence and web development, there is often talk about AI potentially replacing web developers. However, we should understand that AI, while capable of automating tasks, can’t replicate the creativity and problem-solving skills unique to software programmers and web developers. Artificial intelligence serves as a tool that enhances productivity rather than a replacement. So, while AI can be a big help to developers, it’s doubtful it will fully replace them. Instead the combination of AI and human skills is becoming the standard in web development, giving us the best of both worlds.

The impact of artificial intelligence on web development is undeniable. It has revolutionised the way we design, develop and maintain websites. As skilled web developers, we understand the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest technologies and trends. AI is transforming the industry and enhancing user satisfaction. Thanks to using AI in web development, companies can use new tools to automate tasks, make user experiences better, improve how well websites work and enhance their safety. As AI progresses we can expect to uncover even more exciting possibilities in web development.

What’s your take on AI’s impact on web development now and in the future? Share your thoughts or questions with us in the comments below!

Any new content or updated content can be considered fresh. Content comes in the form of blog posts, infographics, videos, quizzes – really any informative piece of media you can put online.

However fresh content is not just making small updates or changes to existing pages on your website. While some changes and significant overhauls to existing pages may improve ranking on search engines like Google, slight updates do not dramatically improve SEO.

Fresh content means adding new, fresh pages. One of the most common forms of content is a blog. New blog posts add fresh pages to a website. Adding these pages can help your website rank for more keywords, boosting SEO for keywords relating to the website’s industry.

Major search engines, like Google, use bots or web crawlers. This is to find and index recently published content that can be shown in the search results. This means that the more often you release updates, the more search engines will look at your website. As a result, you have better chances of achieving higher rankings based on the content you offer.

Landing on the top page of search results can greatly affect the number of your potential visitors. And this can have a huge impact on your ranking.

Every time you publish a new piece of content, you get the opportunity to optimise for your target keywords. So, if you published one new post a day for 365 days that amounts to 365 keywords. Now imagine what this could mean for you in terms of search engine visibility.

Over time, your website will be populated with all relevant keyword phrases and it could have a better chance at ranking higher up in the search engine result pages. However, you must have to remember that Google always looks at the quality of content and not the number of keywords you have.

By consistently publishing fresh content, you can become an industry expert in the eyes of Google. A quick Google search will tell you that more authority websites have tens of thousands of pages indexed in Google. The more quality content you post, the higher are your chances of becoming an authority site in your niche.

Adding new pages create a new link for your website with a unique URL. Building these links is important to grow your website and create relevant pages. Interlinking between pages can also help share traffic and improve SEO. Backlinks or inbound links are especially important to SEO.

Another good reason to update your website with valuable content is to keep current subscribers updated, as well as provide necessary information for new visitors to convert to customers.

Updating content on your website gives visitors more to see. Publishing fresh content regularly can help build a returning audience, which drives more regular traffic to your site.

If you require a website for your business then Reactive Graphics can help your company to correctly position itself in the marketplace.
Get in touch with us today to see how we can get your project off the ground!
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3. Colour Psychology

Colour psychology is the science of how colours can have an influence on human behaviour. Different colours can have different effects, and using the right colours will trigger the right emotions to compel your users to take an action. The colour blue for example connotes trustworthiness, loyalty and safety, this is why you’ll see most bank websites using a blue colour scheme. Whereas the colour green suggests wealth, nature and health, this is why most nature friendly or health care websites use green in their web design.

Colours can also have different impacts on different genders. Previous studies have shown women have a better response to the colours blue, purple and green. Whereas, studies have shown men prefer the colours blue, green and black, so be sure to be using the right colours for your target audience. Make sure you experiment with different colours and monitor your users behaviour using the tools we mentioned in step 1 and 2.

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing is normally overlooked, but by monitoring your open rates and optimising your newsletters, you can greatly increase the click-through ratio to your website and boost your conversions.

Firstly, you need to maximise the number of users opening your email. The first thing a user will see in their inbox is your subject line, so make sure this is catchy and stands out from the crowd. A good way to do this is by using personalisation and intriguing your users with humour, curiosity and big brand names. Try not to use any spammy language or use multiple unnecessary emojis, which could trigger spam filters.

You’ll find sending your newsletters at specific times and days will convert much better than others, so be sure to test this and use different layouts to find what converts best for your target audience.  Also, make sure you have a clear call to action buttons in your campaign. Previous studies show most users won’t scroll down to the end of your message, so make sure there’s one call to action button above the fold of the email.

Conclusion

Using all of these methods will help you to optimise your website while experimenting with different layouts and using colour phycology to your advantage. As result, this will maximise your conversions, increase user engagement, and reduce bounce rates and/or abandoned checkouts.

Contact us today to find out how we can help implement these services for you and increase your website conversion rates! You can also find out more about the other web design and development services we offer here.